LSU says Les Miles to stay; Tigers beat Texas A&M 19-7

After LSU’s gritty 19-7 win over Texas A&M, however, athletic director Joe Alleva stood in front of the press and proclaimed that the team would move forward with Les Miles as its leader.

In comments after the Tigers beat Texas A&M, Alleva seemed to put to rest speculation that Miles had coached his last game at LSU. “We didn’t play very smart tonight”, said Sumlin, who dropped to 0-4 against LSU since the Aggies joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012.

Les Miles looked to his right, beyond a crowd of reporters to where his wife, Kathy, and their four children had been waiting anxiously for the 62-year-old coach to emerge from LSU’s locker room.

“The game itself was an imperfect fistfight”, Miles said.

Fournette finished with 1,741 rushing yards in the regular season, eclipsing the 1977 LSU season record of 1,686 by Charles Alexander.

Though sophomore Leonard Fournette piled up 159 yards and notched the game-clinching touchdown, Guice provided the go-ahead score with his team trailing 7-6 midway through the third quarter. LSU players carried him off the field.

“It’s not enough to win occasionally”, Miles said. “I think we’ve got a mobile quarterback, I think we’ve got a guy that can throw it and I still think we’re going to have balance, but I don’t think there’s any question that offense needs to be adapted”. He also won a National Championship and two SEC Championships with the Tigers.

The Tigers have gone 8-5 and 8-3 the past two years, and the crime mentioned the most is the team’s recent three-game losing streak.

Miles said after the game that it is “great to be the coach at LSU”, and that he found out he was going to be keeping his job immediately after the win from school president F. King Alexander and A.D. Avella.

Kyle Allen passed for 161 yards and one touchdown for the Aggies, but had a pass intercepted by Donte Jackson inside the final 2 minutes, all but sealing LSU’s victory.

Miles has been at LSU since 2005 and has a 111-32 overall record.

It’s clear Miles is not pleased with how the end of this season went off the field, but in the end, he came out on top of the power struggle with whatever boosters and members of the athletic departmner were against him.

There were a handful of pre-snap penalties and the passing game was largely ineffective.

LSU QB Brandon Harris was 7 of 21 for 83 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. Most of his receptions came on check downs to running backs, including a critical third-down swing pass to Fournette for a 17-yard gain that sustained the Tigers’ final scoring drive.

LSU (8-3, 5-3 SEC) awaits its postseason bowl destination, which will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 6. Of course, as a whole, the season was a disappointment for the Tigers, as their College Football Playoff hopes quickly dissipated during the month of November with three straight losses. “That’s how we think of it. That’s how this team thinks of it. We wouldn’t want anyone else here”.